1983

Canterbury Golf Club was chosen to host the inaugural Senior Tournament Players Championship in 1983. The event was created as one of five major championships on the Champions Tour schedule.

Miller Barber of Shreveport, Louisiana, was one of the Champions Tour's most dominant players from the outset of the Tour and he came to Canterbury in 1983 with 2 Senior Majors already under his belt. Barber bested a world class field by single shot over Gene Littler to take his 3rd of 5 career senior major victories. He fired rounds of 71-69-70-68 for a 10-under

This was the 2nd Senior Major in the past 12 months that Barber came from behind to catch Gene Littler. In the 1982 US Senior Open, Barber fired a flawless final round 65 to best Littler and Dan Sikes by 4 shots. Then, the very next year at Canterbury, Miller Barber used an excellent final round to emerge victorious over Littler. Barber took home the winners share of $40,000 for his efforts. This tournament would mark the first of 4 consecutive years that Canterbury would play host to the Senior TPC. The 278 total was a record low total for a 72-hole stroke play championship at Canterbury.